Little Bundle of Joy
by luckystars135
Summary: The shinigami have never really bothered learning about babies and how to take care of them, but that just might change when Matsumoto brings in a rather special surprise for her captain. First Bleach fanfic, so don't be mean, okay? Please read and review
1. Introduction and Names

**I'm going to try this out. HOPEFULLY, it'll work...hopefully...**

**This is my first Bleach fanfic, so don't kill me if it's not 'up-to-standard'.**

**I don't own this...and I really have no clue who does...but that doesn't matter! **

* * *

It was a normal day in summer. Personally, it was a torturous summer morning if you wanted to get specific with Hitsugaya. And it wasn't even noon yet. The child prodigy was sitting, as usual, behind his desk, wondering how all of the paperwork in the Soul Society seems to end up in his office. And his always drunk, sake addict of a lieutenant was no help either. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair. _It's not my fault I can't act my age_, he thought, irritably, _These people don't give me any time to act my age, for heavens sake! How many ten year olds do you see behind a desk, working on paperwork all day long?!_

_At least this room is air conditioned_, he thought, sarcastically, dipping his brush once more into the ink. _I won't have to bother-_

The door slammed open.

Hitsugaya knew there was something wrong the moment Matsumoto stepped into the room.

For one, she was smiling.

_Then again, she always smiles_, Hitsugaya thought, _I guess it's just this smile. It gives you shivers..._

Two, she actually _bothered _coming to the office today. Usually, Matsumoto didn't even bother stepping foot into the office, unless she wanted some silent company and the comfort of the couch.

And three...she was carrying something in her arms. Usually she didn't carry anything in her arms other than clothes or sake. If they were clothes, then she's try on each one and ask Hitsugaya which ones were better, which did _not _speed up the process of the paperwork. If it was sake, then she'd plomp down on the couch and start drinking and gossiping about what the other captains were doing.

And sure enough...

"Taichou!" she called, happily. Hitsugaya looked up, giving her the coldest glare yet. Matsumoto took this as a sign to go away, but as usual, she didn't heed it. "Taichou! Look what I found! And turn up the heat. How cold is it in here?"

The captain sighed, looking at the thermostat. _Wow...59 degrees Fahrenheit...I must have really been trying to escape the heat...I didn't notice._

"Turn up the heat!" Matsumoto ordered again. "It'll be bad for the baby!"

Hitsugaya blinked. _Wait. Did she just say...?_

"Baby!" Matsumoto repeated, happily. "Don't worry, it's not yours," she added hastily as poor little Toshirou blanched horribly.

He recovered, and his icy glare came back on her face. "Get out," he demanded, coldly. "And take that stupid baby with you."

"Aww, but taich-"

"NOW."

"B-B-But..."

"MATSUMOTO," he didn't shout it, but he might've as well, because...the baby woke up and started crying.

"Oh no!" Matsumoto called, looking at the child with worry. "I think she might be hungry." Then, she turned to her captain, expectantly.

Hitsugaya groaned. It was a girl. Great, just was a he needed. Another annoying female in his office. "Fine," he sighed, caving in. "Get some milk heated up for her, and I'll turn down the heat."

Matsumoto squealed with happiness, dropped the baby, and embraced her captain with one of her trademark hugs. "THANK YOU, TAICHOU!" she squealed, nearly suffocating the little captain that was starting to regret this.

"Matsumoto."

"Yes, taichou?"

"You just..._dropped_ the baby," he said, rather pointedly in his opinion.

"Ack!" Matsumoto cried, running to the now thrashing baby on the ground. Hitsugaya sighed and lowered his forehead into the palm of his hand. This was going to be a _long_ parenthood...

* * *

After a while, Hitsugaya and Matsumoto got the baby to calm down enough to stop her from thrashing around. Matsumoto finally got the milk warmed, and nearly killed the baby when she accidentally stuck the bottle up the poor little girl's nostril and milk started flowing through. Hitsugaya had to freeze the milk that flowed in and pull it out all at once. He was starting to regret (desperately) that he even allowed the girl to stay.

"So, taichou, what should we name her?" Matsumoto asked, eagerly. Hitsugaya had retreated back to his desk to continue on the paperwork that he might never finish now as the baby girl slowly fell asleep. Matsumoto had been stroking the soft little tufts of honey blond hair that crowned the girl's head.

"I don't know," Hitsugaya snapped, but inwardly, he was rather curious of what Matsumoto would come up with.

"How about...Ichigo?" Matsumoto offered. Hitsugaya blotted the paper he was working on with horror.

"You want to name her after that retard?" he asked, coldly.

"Not really, no," Matsumoto said innocently. "It was just the first name I thought of."

"What about...Kantana?" Hitsugaya said, offhandedly. He was rewarded by a whack around the head from Matsumoto. "What was that for?!"

"Our child is not going to be named after a sword!" Matsumoto demanded, hotheadedly. Hitsugaya rubbed the back of his head, glaring at Matsumoto.

"She's in the Soul Society," he said, calmly and icily. "She's going to see battle, after all."

"But she's a little _girl_," Matsumoto whined.

"At least I didn't say Zanpacto," he said, rather annoyed now.

"That would've been worse!" Matsumoto wailed.

"My point exactly."

"What about...Sake?" Matsumoto thought aloud.

"You're going to name that girl after _sake_?!" Hitsugaya asked, coldly. The temperature dropped five degrees.

Matsumoto blinked innocently. "Sure. Why not?"

"Because it's bad for a baby to be named after something she can't drink."

"Oh."

"What about Sakura?" Hitsugaya sighed, finishing one paper and pulling another toward him.

"I like it, but it sounds too old and grown-up-ish," Matsumoto said, frowning slightly.

At this point, Hitsugaya was really pissed. "Kozakura then," he hissed, glaring at Matsumoto. To his immense surprise, Matsumoto loved the name, and ignoring the fact that the temperature fell about another five degrees.

"Yes!" she squealed. "I LOVE IT! Little Koku! Koku-chan, come to Mommy!" And with that, she hugged the baby tightly, making her wake up and start crying.

Hitsugaya sighed.

* * *

**That...was kind of weird. I think I'm going to continue it though. It's fun! Review please, and I'll try to update again soon. **

**Kozakura- Little Cherry Tree**


	2. Who's your Daddy?

**Okay, the second chapter! I really need to catch up on some of my other stories, though...-.-; Oh well. Read and review!**

Matsumoto sighed, wandering the empty halls, holding Kozakura in her arms. Hitsugaya had kicked out the two after Kozakura threw up all over his paperwork. Matsumoto had tried to plead for the baby's case, but Hitsugaya wouldn't hear another second of it. Now, Matsumoto was trying to find someone to show Kozakura. It wasn't fun if she and her taichou were the only people that knew about the baby. And then, just the person came out of a room ahead…

"Renji!" Matsumoto called, elated. Renji paused on his way in the opposite direction, turned around, and waved at Matsumoto.

"Hey, Matsumoto!" he said, looking at the baby in her arms. "What's with the baby?"

"It's mine," Matsumoto said, rather proudly. Renji peeked over to see the face of the baby, and then froze immediately with horror. "What's wrong?" Matsumoto asked, a little worried.

"Who's the father?" Renji asked, rather tensely. Matsumoto blinked, slightly confused.

"W-W-What do you mean?"

"Don't think I'm stupid," Renji snarled, a bit unhappily, "Hitsugaya got you pregnant, didn't he?!"

"WHAT?!" Matsumoto cried, completely taken aback. "What do you mean?! I don't even think he's gone through puberty! He probably doesn't even know what _hormones_ are!"

But Renji didn't listen. "Just wait until the rest of them find out," Renji said, a bit eagerly. Matsumoto now had no more intentions of seeking out any more people to show Kozakura to, and she watched Renji run away, intending to spread the news.

"That retarded gossiper!" Matsumoto snarled, spinning around the small bundle and looking at Kozakura's face. Sure enough, the little baby had Hitsugaya's wide, vivid emerald-sapphire eyes that changed color depending on the weather and her mood. Adding the fact that little Kozakura had Matsumoto's honey blond hair, it seemed obvious to others who the baby's parents were. "Darn you, Renji. I've got to go warn taichou! Come on, Kozakura!" But Kozakura clapped her chubby hands and started sucking her thumb. "On second thought," Matsumoto mused, "It wouldn't hurt to stop for lunch before we tell him."

However, after lunch, Matsumoto completely forgot to warn her captain about the coming storm.

While Matsumoto was feeding Kozakura, the news started spreading all around the Sereitei. Renji told Orihime who was on a temporary visit and Orihime told Uryu, Chad, Ichigo, and Urahara. Urahara told Yoruichi, while Ichigo told Nemu when he was visiting the Soul Society. Nemu told Mayuri, Isane, and Nanao. Mayuri told Byakuya and Zaraki, while Isane and Nanao told Unohana, Shunsui, and Kira. Zaraki told Yachiru, while Byakuya told Yamamoto. Yachiru told Hinamori, Yumichika, and Ikkaku. Ikkaku, amazingly, told Grimmjow, who told about all of the Espada. Ulquiorra told Aizen, who told Gin and Kaname. Amazingly, this took place in one week.

The only person they missed out was Hitsugaya, who they thought already knew the news since it was his child.

That's why, when Hinamori stumbled inside Hitsugaya's office, he was completely innocent and had no clue what was going on.

"Hello, Hinamori. Is there something you'd like?" he asked, not looking up from a piece of paper that he was trying to wipe a smudge off of. When she didn't reply, he looked up, startled to see her in tears. "Momo!" he called, jumping up and running to her. "What's wrong?"

"I ca-ca-can't believe y-you sle-slept with…with…" Hinamori managed to stutter between her tears. Hitsugaya frowned, completely confused.

"'Slept with'? What in the world are you talking about, Momo?"

"You slept with Matsumoto and got her pregnant!" Hinamori shrieked, pushing Hitsugaya away from her. The poor little captain froze, not believing what he was hearing.

"W-W-Wha…" he stammered, then suddenly, it clicked.

Matsumoto.

Kozakura.

The baby.

Big-mouthed lieutenants.

He looked forward, his eyes widening into an amazing size. Hinamori was starting to wonder if Hitsugaya knew it at all. But then again, he'd be a very bad father if he didn't even _know_ he was a father.

Hitsugaya whispered something incomprehensible. Hinamori looked confused. "What did you say?" she asked.

"_Matsumoto_," he snarled, only a bit louder this time. Hinamori yelped. The expression on Toshiro's face had changed in a rapidly short time. While a second ago, he looked obviously confused, now, he looked livid beyond compare. Hinamori felt the temperature in the room drop about ten degrees.

"MATSUMOTO!!"

"You called, taichou?" Matsumoto asked, carrying a giggling Kozakura into the office. To her surprise, her captain was in his bankai and the office resembled a winter wonderland.

"MATSUMOTO!" he screamed, starting to fly toward her at a tremendous speed. "I AM GOING TO _**KILL**_ YOU!"

"The baby, taichou!" Matsumoto cried, trying to shield the poor little thing from all of the ice and cold as the furious captain got closer and closer. She started backing out into the hallway, trying to cover Kozakura's little face. Kozakura was starting to wail at seeing one of the few people she liked so angry and murderous.

"I DON'T CARE! YOU'RE _**DEAD**_!"

"YOU'RE _SCARING_ THE _BABY_!"

As Hitsugaya was a feet away from her, Matsumoto did something she never did before.

She slapped her captain.

Hitsugaya stopped, one of his wings inches from her throat, his eyes widening considerably. Matsumoto also seemed surprised at what she just did. Kozakura looked at her mommy and daddy looking at each other with large eyes, and giggled quietly and stuck her fist in Hitsugaya's mouth.

Well, what can you say? A protective mother is the scariest thing.

**-.-...That was random...oh well.**


	3. Filler: Swords

**Updating pretty fast...hm...Hitsugaya seems to get into a lot of trouble in my fanfiction, though…hehe...**

**I don't own ANY of this, except for little Kozakura. :)**

Usually, one in the Soul Society would wake up to find Hitsugaya shouting at his lieutenant for not doing her paperwork. But, as the captains and lieutenants would soon find out, today was a _little_ bit different.

A little bit.

"_**HITSUGAYA TOUSHIROU!!**_" rang through the early streets, waking up nearly every single captain. Meanwhile, the mentioned captain was not in his bed, demanding to know why someone was shouting his name this early in the morning, but was instead in front of Kozakura and cowering before the wrath of Matsumoto.

Kozakura, on the first look, might seem fine, but if you examined her a little closer, you'd see her with a thin gash along her arm. Adding to the fact that the nine month old infant was crying, screaming, and _bleeding_ at the same time, you'd think the parents really have big issues.

Well, at least one of them.

While Kozakura was bawling her eyes out, Matsumoto was dragging Hitsugaya out into the courtyard by his ear, ignoring his complaints. Matsumoto wanted to get out of Hitsugaya's office because she didn't want her little baby to see what she was about to do. Bemused captains and their lieutenants lined the sides, curious as to what the two were up to today, and even more curious when they saw that Hitsugaya was the one being tortured.

"THAT WAS _**INSANE**_!" Matsumoto began, "WHAT THE _**CRAP**_ WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"I just wanted to see what would happen!" Hitsugaya cried, cringing away from Matsumoto's angry face. "It's not like I wanted to kill her or something, although the thought did run through my mind once…"

"YOU _**DO NOT**_ GIVE LITTLE BABIES SWORDS, _**AM I UNDERSTOOD**_?!" Matsumoto thundered right in the poor little captain's ear. Hitsugaya winced at the sound of her voice.

"B-But," he stuttered, much to the amusement of the captains lining the sides. "I mean, she's going to have to handle a sword at _sometime_, so I thought-"

"YOU THOUGHT YOU'D GIVE HYOUINMARU TO AN _**INFANT**_?! DAMN YOU, SHE'S NOT EVEN ONE YET!"

Hitsugaya winced further. "It's not like it would activate or anything, and if it did-"

"I'D HAVE A POPSICLE FOR A DAUGHTER, _**THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!**_"

No one, and I repeat, _no one_, had ever seen Matsumoto scream so loud, or had even seen her so livid. Renji was trying desperately to mask his laughs into coughs, and if someone listened closely, they could even hear _Byakuya_ chuckling quietly. Yachiru was laughing out loud and pointing at Hitsugaya, while Kenpachi was smirking at the poor little captain.

"I didn't even take off the sheath! It wouldn't have hurt her in any way-"

"THEN HOW THE _**HELL**_ DID SHE CUT HER ARM?! DID YOU EVEN _**THINK**_ ABOUT THAT, YOU STUPID RETARD?!"

"She must have taken it off by herself, I didn't do it, so it's not my fault-"

"YES IT _**IS**_ YOUR FAULT, YOU'D THINK A LITTLE NINE MONTH OLD BABY WOULD BE ABLE TO KNOW WHETHER OR NOT TO TAKE A SHEATH OFF OF A _**SWORD**_?!" **(A/N: Dang, Matsumoto's pissed…)**

"But still I didn't do anything, Kozakura did it!"

"ARE YOU TRYING TO PUT THE BLAME ON YOUR OWN _**DAUGHTER**_?!" Matsumoto shrieked. Hitsugaya was wondering if his ears would ever work again.

"No, no…"

"THEN TAKE THE BLAME LIKE A **MAN**, AND I _**BETTER NOT**_ SEE KOZAKURA EVEN _**NEAR**_ A SWORD _**EVER AGAIN**_!"

And with that, Matsumoto dropped her hold on her captain's ear and stalked back to the office to apply First Aid to Kozakura's bleeding arm. Hitsugaya sat there, dazed, not really believing what was happening. There was silence that seemed to ring after Matsumoto's accusations, and Hitsugaya thought his hearing might be permanently damaged.

And then…

All of the captains and their lieutenants started laughing as one. Some even collapsed to the ground, and some lad to lean weakly against the wall. Hitsugaya was still standing there, frozen, looking at the place where Matsumoto disappeared. He seemed to be in shock, never even guessing that his lieutenant would _ever_ talk to him that way…

"Dang, Hitsugaya, you got dissed by a _girl_," Kira chuckled. That seemed to snap Hitsugaya out of his daze, and he spun around and glared at Kira.

"He didn't get dissed, he practically got killed, right, Shiro-chan?" Yachiru giggled, looking at the now embarrassed captain.

"But seriously, Hitsugaya, what were you thinking, giving your child a sword like that?" Nanao asked, gasping for air after laughing so hard. **(Hmm…a little OCC here…)**

The captains watched, awestruck, as Hitsugaya began his story.

"Well…it was about time for Kozakura's feeding, and the only thing we had were apples," he admitted, sheepishly. "So then I realized that Kozakura couldn't eat them whole, and I didn't have a knife with me. So, I used Hyouinmaru to cut up the apple. Kozakura wanted to try it too, so I gave it to her-"

"How can you tell if your baby wants to use a sword?"

Hitsugaya glared at Renji for making him stop, and Renji cowered, seeing the tenth squad captain starting to return to his normal state. "AS I WAS SAYING, I gave my sword to Kozakura, and I could tell she liked it, because then she cut up all of Matsumoto's-"

"OKAY, WHO _**SHREDDED**_ MY CLOTHES?!"

Hitsugaya panicked and flash stepped out of the courtyard, much to the further amusement of the other captains and lieutenants.

* * *

Ichigo frowned, flipping through all of the stupid homework his teacher gave him. _I'll be up for the rest of my life if I have to do all of this_, Ichigo groaned, throwing all of his pages in the air and burying his head in his arms. _This is insane!_

"Speak for yourself," a voice sighed from the window. Ichigo spun around to see Hitsugaya reclining against the windowpane. He wasn't in a gegai, so only Ichigo could see him. For now. "Did you know that you talk out loud when you're alone?"

Ichigo scowled at him. "What's wrong, Toushirou? Why're you here?" he asked, ignoring the little captain's frown of annoyance at using his real name.

Actually, Hitsugaya looked a bit embarrassed at this point. "Can…I stay here for a while?" he asked, looking down, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

Ichigo was completely confused. "Why?"

At this, Hitsugaya seemed to be jolted out of his self-pitying. "None of your business, Kurosaki," he snapped, and then jumped out of view.

"Hey! Matte!" Ichigo called, running to the window. "Where're you going?!" He yelled in surprise as Hitsugaya's head popped back into view, upside down. He seemed to be on…

"The roof," he confirmed, his expression annoyed from being disturbed.

"O-O-Oh…" Ichigo said, noticing the fact that Hitsugaya seemed more pissed than usual.

As Ichigo turned back around, he heard a voice call, "Wait, Ichigo! One more thing…" Ichigo had to stop the tick from pulsing as he turned back around.

"Yes?" he snarled through his teeth, needing to get back to his work. He noticed that Hitsugaya was once more a delicate shade of pink.

"Er…do you have any…watermelon?" he asked, offhandedly. Ichigo was taken aback at this sudden request.

"Why?" he asked, suspiciously.

"...I'm hungry," Hitsugaya admitted, turning a little pinker. Ichigo couldn't help laughing out loud at this, which made Hitsugaya glare at him, still blushing.

"Fine, fine," Ichigo sighed, turning back around. "I'll get some!" Hitsugaya nodded and disappeared again. Ichigo looked at the place he used to be, and then shook his head and went downstairs. "So he's still a kid inside…but I wonder about that child Orihime talked about…"

It seems like Hitsugaya was still in hearing range when Ichigo said that, because he called, "Damn it, Ichigo, it's not my baby!"

**Please review!**


	4. Kozakura's Past

**Hadn't updated in forever, but don't worry. This isn't the only fanfiction that I'm completely ignoring. -.-; Pathetic.**

**This is slightly more serious, or at least I tried to make it a little more serious. You're going to get close to Koko's past, which I know a lot of you are dying to find out.**

* * *

"_Please_, Renji!"

Renji shook his head quickly. Matsumoto looked pleadingly up at him, but after over decades of being with Matsumoto, he was practically immune to her pouty lip. Kozakura wasn't making any noise. Instead, she was simply sitting on the ground of the sixth division, sucking her thumb.

"No way," he said, flatly. "I am not letting that little…_thing_ get anywhere near my taichou. He'd kill me if he saw me with it!" Kozakura seemed to realize he was talking about her, and she looked up at him with wide and pleading eyes.

Renji might be unaffected by Matsumoto's begging, but Kozakura was a completely different matter.

"Just a few hours," Matsumoto said, seeing that with little Kozakura she was quickly gaining the upper hand. "Koku can stay with you for a while, and that way I'd be able to finish up my paperwork too. Taichou would _kill_ me if he saw that I didn't do it for three weeks straight!"

Renji sighed, annoyed, looking down at the irresistible Kozakura who was now looking up at him with amazingly large chibi eyes. "Fine," he snarled. "But if taichou kills me, I'm going to blame it all on _you_." Matsumoto clapped her hands and laughed with glee.

"Thank you Renji!" she cried, hugging him tightly (and almost suffocating him with her…er…you know…in the process). "Now, all you have to do is change her every hour. Make sure you feed her some hollows every _two_ hours—she gets hungry really quick-"

"Wait, did you just say to feed her _hollows_?!"

Matsumoto bit her bottom lip. "I know. It's _weird_, right? Koku only eats hollows. We tried feeding her some other foods—for heavens sake, we even tried _sake_, but she wouldn't eat anything else." Renji's forehead scrunched up with slight horror and disbelief.

"Hitsugaya let you try…? Never mind," Renji sighed, shaking his head. "Where am I supposed to get hollows?"

Matsumoto shrugged. "Go to the living world, I guess. I've been taking her there. She can get them by herself, so you don't have to worry about hunting for them or whatever. You could even go to Hueco Mundo. Since we're not fighting, she can eat those little hollow lizards, but they aren't her favorite. Heck, I think she could even chase after arrancar if she felt like it!"

Renji shuddered at the thought.

"Ma~ma," a small voice said from the ground. Matsumoto looked down at the ground where Kozakura was clapping her hands out in front of her, practically begging to be picked up. The orange haired shinigami picked up the child immediately, bouncing her gently.

"It can talk?" Renji asked, surprised. Kozakura turned her cornflower blue eyes on Renji, giving him a happy smile with her eyes.

"She called Hitsugaya 'Papa'," Matsumoto laughed, continuing to bounce the small nine-month old on her arm. "Imagine his surprise. Actually, he seemed kind of mad for some reason. Then, he yelled for us to 'get out'."

"Is that why you're hear right now?"

"Yeah. That and I'm going to get killed by Hyouinmaru later if I didn't do my paperwork," Matsumoto said, passing Kozakura into Renji's arms. He held her awkwardly, but Kozakura didn't seem to mind.

"Nam?"

"What?" Renji asked, looking down at Kozakura who was the one that had just spoken that word.

"Nam?"

"She's asking for your name," Matsumoto said, helpfully. Renji looked at her with disbelief.

"You can understand that?!"

Matsumoto shrugged. "Yep. I dunno why. Hitsugaya's the only other person who can do that, but he doesn't seem very happy about it."

"Nam!" Kozakura cried, frustrated that the big-kids (in her opinion) wasn't answering her.

"Renji," the red-haired man said, slightly surprised that she could talk at that young an age.

"Wen…zi."

"Yes, Koku, Renji!" Matsumoto said, bending down so she was at Kozakura's head level. "Good girl! You pronounced it perfectly! I bet taichou will be proud if you go back and say it for him."

"Papa wike Koko when Koko say 'Wenzi'?" Kozakura asked, hopefully. "Papa don't wike Koko."

"Don't say that, sweetie," Matsumoto scolded, smoothing down Kozakura's sunset locks of hair. "Your Papa loves you." Kozakura wasn't persuaded.

"Papa don't wike Koko."

"Hitsugaya-taichou likes you," Renji said, trying to join Matsumoto in cheering Kozakura up. Then, he turned to Matsumoto and said in a quiet voice, "'Koko'?"

"It's what she calls herself."

"Is it really okay for a nine-month old to know this much?" Renji asked worriedly. Kozakura seemed to know more words than any other infant he knew. And she seemed to be able to comprehend what was going on around her and talk in almost complete sentences. Matsumoto looked adoringly at Koko.

"Hitsugaya must be rubbing off on her," she said affectionately. "She can even play the piano!"

"She can _play_ the _piano_?!"

"Yes!" Matsumoto laughed. "Byakuya had a piano in his office, right? You can let her play for you! But I really have to go now, okay? Can you take care of her?" She looked a bit anxiously at Renji, who already looked slightly irritated at Koko poking his tattoos.

"It'll be fine."

* * *

Hisugaya leaned back in his chair, sighing a bit.

He knew fully well that Matsumoto and Kozakura both thought he hated the new addition to the 'family'. However, he didn't care that much. The only problem was Kozakura herself.

Hitsugaya got that headache-splinching feeling of forgetting something every time he looked at Kozakura. It was like he already knew everything her…how she looked before…how she acted when she was younger…and even what she looks when she's older. Hitsugaya moaned quietly and leaned forward, massaging his temples with his fingers. Just thinking about Kozakura and what might have brought her here gave him a migraine.

"What happened to her?" he sighed. "Matsumoto never told me how she found Koko—she seems to have forgotten already. What in the world is going on with that Kozakura?"

Taking a deep breath, the snowy-haired captain forced himself back into a sitting position, closing his eyes and trying to bring himself back into the calm world. After he regained his composure, he thought about it logically. Yes, logically was defiantly the best way to go in this situation. All he needed to do was think about it in a logical manner.

Kozakura was almost ten months. Though she can already talk, that didn't change her real age. Therefore, it meant that she couldn't have come from the living world—souls that come from the living world take at least about ten months to get there. That way, she had to be born in the Soul Society. The Seiretei had records of all children that were born at any time, so all he had to do was go through those records.

Right?

* * *

"They have no records of any babies born in the month of March."

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes. Mayuri had shot out that answer the moment he asked to see if any kids were born in the month that Kozakura was born in. "Could you at least check?" Hitsugaya hissed through his teeth. If Mayuri was right, then that meant he was back to square one, the most frustrating place to be.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, I, too, was intrigued by Koko's presence. That was why I check the records, and it clearly stated at there were no babies born in March, February, or April," Mayuri stated, factually.

"Three months without any births?"

"Yes, that also surprised me. Babies that were supposed to be born in any of the three months were delayed until early May. Couples that tried to produce an embryo at that time failed, even if it was at the female's spring of fertility. Some other outside force must be at work here."

Hitsugaya bit his bottom lip. "Someone that could control when life is produced? What kind of person would that be?"

"Oh Hitsugaya, it doesn't have to be someone. I could be some_thing_."

"You're implying another party could be starting to join the Soul Wars?" Hitsugaya asked, raising his eyebrows. As far as his knowledge extended, Soul Reapers, Hollows, Bount, and Vizards were about the only parties that were running in the war. Bounts had been completely wiped out, so that was one party gone. However, that didn't eliminate the threat of the arrancars and the Vizards, who seemed to be a law upon themselves.

Mayuri snorted. "You're jumping to conclusions, Hitsugaya-taichou. I didn't mention anything about the Soul Wars, now did I? It could be pure coincidence, but the percentage of that is under five. My guess is that another group…species…of creatures, sent Kozakura here for a reason."

"Or she could have come from the living world."

"Both you and I know that didn't happen," Mayuri cackled. "It takes ten months to travel from the living world to here. The only place she could have come from was here, or somewhere we haven't explored yet." Both of them noticed that he left out one place.

"Or Hueco Mundo."

"Or Hueco Mundo," Mayuri admitted.

* * *

Hitsugaya flash-stepped through the sand dunes of Hueco Mundo, determined to reach Las Noches as soon as possible. There was only one person that he was looking for…

"Hitsugaya-sama?"

The said captain breathed a sigh of relief as the person he was looking for suddenly appeared besides him. He lurched to a stop, and the tiny girl that was using sonido to keep up with him also stopped. Her ink black hair swirled around her face, making her freakishly pale skin and somber green eyes stand out so much more. She looked to be only about five.

"Persephone," Hitsugaya said, "Where's your father and mother? Are you really out here all by yourself?"

Persephone looked up at him with the emotionless gaze her father was so good at. "Mom and Dad know I'm here," she said, quietly. "Decidirse told me you were coming. You're wondering about Kozakura-san, aren't you?" Hitsugaya shuddered slightly at Persephone's scary ability to know almost everything that was going on.

"What does 'decidirse' mean?"

"'Make up your mind'," Persephone said in a monotone. "Decidirse lets me see into the minds of people that I know the face and name of. She becomes quite lethal when it comes time for battle." Hitsugaya felt a slight chill run down his spine. She was right. That _would_ be lethal.

"Hold on…then…does that mean Ulquiorra and Orihime let you come?" Hitsugaya asked, the slightest bit confused. Persephone blinked.

"I said they knew I'm here. I didn't say that they approve of me coming here," Persephone said matter-of-factly. "Anyway, you should come on inside. Father's expecting you. I suppose he wants to speak to you."

Hitsugaya followed Persephone through the crazily twisting halls of the pure white palace-like structure. Lower ranking arrancars that were passing through the hallway bowed deeply to Persephone and looked at Hitsugaya with a surprised air. He felt the slightest bit as if the arrancar that were walking in the halls blamed him for even surviving, but it wasn't like he cared much anyway.

Finally, the two reached a pure white door, and Persephone pushed it open. She then, without looking back at Hitsugaya, dashed into the room and jumped into Orihime's lap, just as the orange-haired woman started laughing, smoothing down the small five-year-old's ebony hair.

"Toushirou-kun. Nice to see you again," Orihime smiled, looking at Hitsugaya with warm eyes. Persephone mirrored her mother's look, but her green eyes managed to convey a sense of emptiness instead of comfort. Ulquiorra looking up at Hitsugaya from a small table. The small white-haired captain saw a chess board in front of him, and automatically sat down at the opposite side of the fourth Espada.

"Well? What's the chess board for?"

Ulquiorra didn't explain. Instead, he put a set of clear, glass-like pieces on one side of the previously barren checkerboard. "I think I know where Kozakura came from," he finally said.

* * *

**Heh. Sadly, you're not going to be finding out what Koko is in the next chapter. ^.^ We're going to be joining Renji and seeing what in the world is going on with them. Hehehe...**

**Review please~!**


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